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Tuesday, 21 May 2013

All day long the
ant would work hard, collecting grains of wheat from the farmer's field far
away. She would hurry to the field every morning, as soon as it was light
enough to see by, and toil back with a heavy grain of wheat balanced on her
head. She would put the grain of wheat carefully away in her larder, and then
hurry back to the field for another one. All day long she would work, without
stop or rest, scurrying back and forth from the field, collecting the grains of
wheat and storing them carefully in her larder.

The grasshopper
would look at her and laugh. 'Why do you work so hard, dear ant?' he would say.
'Come, rest awhile, listen to my song. Summer is here, the days are long and
bright. Why waste the sunshine in labour and toil?'

The ant would
ignore him, and head bent, would just hurry to the field a little faster. This
would make the grasshopper laugh even louder. 'What a silly little ant you
are!' he would call after her. 'Come, come and dance with me! Forget about
work! Enjoy the summer! Live a little!' And the grasshopper would hop away
across the meadow, singing and dancing merrily.

Summer faded
into autumn, and autumn turned into winter. The sun was hardly seen, and the
days were short and grey, the nights long and dark. It became freezing cold,
and snow began to fall. The grasshopper didn't feel like singing any more. He
was cold and hungry. He had nowhere to shelter from the snow, and nothing to
eat. The meadow and the farmer's field were covered in snow, and there was no
food to be had. 'Oh what shall I do? Where shall I go?' wailed the grasshopper.
Suddenly he remembered the ant. 'Ah - I shall go to the ant and ask her for
food and shelter!' declared the grasshopper, perking up. So off he went to the
ant's house and knocked at her door. 'Hello ant!' he cried cheerfully. 'Here I
am, to sing for you, as I warm myself by your fire, while you get me some food
from that larder of yours!'

The ant looked
at the grasshopper and said, 'All summer long I worked hard while you made fun
of me, and sang and danced. You should have thought of winter then! Find
somewhere else to sing, grasshopper! There is no warmth or food for you here!'
And the ant shut the door in the grasshopper's face.